GPGSL Round 13: Philip Island. Race Day. Part 2And we're back from our commercial break and continue with the action on track. Yummy. This ice-cold Heinecken beer is really good!
Vilela is still struggling at the end of field after his gravel ride earlier.
Meanwhile Greidanus starts the first round of pit stops after exactly one third of the race has been driven.
While he is in there, a whole bunch of drivers passes the long straight! Really, they are like bees, using every possible inch of the track! Hopefully this will work out at the end of the straight.
They're still so close together when they approach the curve. And...OH NO! Drama for Greidanus. He comes out directly behind this whole group!
They're still fighting hard into the next corners.
And Kittleson brakes wrong which makes him being caught by Elleker and Silvestre, one taking the inside, the other one the outside.
And here's the proof of what we already feared. Greidanus' stop was maybe too early and he finds himself 17th with a lot of traffic before him. This will ruin his chance to use his fresh tyres. Not very good strategy work there from TSS.
Hopefully they'll make it better with current leader Aleksander, who has taken over the lead when Greenhalgh entered the pits.
And another OH NO comes from the crowd. Sheppard overdoes it and hits the gravel in that tricky left corner.
He smashes into the wall! That's it for the second Australian hope. Very sad for him.
But, OH GOD! BE CAREFUL! Cartwright makes exactly the same mistake, also smashes into the wall and hits Sheppard's car which is just about to be transported off. Luckily the guy can make a big jump and avoid being hit by Sheppard's car. DRAMA HERE AT PHILIP ISLAND! Of course that also ends Cartwright's race.
Meanwhile Karjalainen has enough of Kittleson and shows a clean overtake.
Maverick enters the pits from second.
Greidanus has worked back to 5th after more people entered the pits. But how much time will he have lost? Remember, before the stops he was on a good way to 2nd again.
Maverick comes back out in 4th, behind Greenhalgh in 3rd and Aleksander and Warrington who're yet to pit.
Aleksander follows immediately at the end of the round.
And so does Warrington.
Oops, some little off time for Somogyi there. But no damage for him, he can continue rather quickly.
Both Snake cars, as well as Kittleson and Vilela continue to give a good show to the crowd.
Aleksander comes back out close to Greenhalgh, but again behind.
Maverick has taken 3rd because of TSS's bad strategy with Greidanus.
And even Warrington comes out before Greidanus, but they're in direct fight now, with Greidanus having the warmer tyres.
And that helps Greidanus to take back 4th from Warrington.
Meanwhile Kittleson has catched the first Snake car and is now on his way to take the second, with Vilela trying to take advantage from it.
A bit further behind, these three cars show a nice rainbow color effect, don't they?
Edwards wants his position back, he won't make it this time though.
And team mate Karjalainen has to defend hard against Silvestre.
But there's again dust coming from the gravel! It's...it's again Vilela who hit the barrier this time. This is the end of a rather crappy race for him.
Team mate Rodriguez now even the more wants to bring home a good result for the team and attacks Horvath.
No success this time though. The TNR top speed is still very good. Anyway, let's have a look at the standings:
Aleksander staying close to Greenhalgh. He hasn't given up this win yet.
Again dust in the gravel. This time it's Silvestre who makes a huge jump. But he can go on and his car doesn't seem to be damaged. It's really amazing how much these GPGSL cars can take.
And the corner got its next victim. Maybe it should get renamed to the Black Mamba, waiting patiently for its victims. This time it's Karjalainen who ruins a really good position.
And honestly! Now this corner starts to scare me. Karjalainen is only gone for a few seconds and there comes the next. It's...oh no, Greidanus!
He can go on but lost a few places from it. At least he doesn't have to wait for the end of the grid.
But back to the top of the field. Aleksander attacks Greenhalgh!
And he's through! Aleksander takes the lead!
He was given 3 laps to extend this lead before he has to come to the pits now. Just like Greidanus before, this is a rather early pit stop again. Will it work out this time?
Greenhalgh doesn't follow and consequently retakes the lead.
Others follow though, like Rodriguez who is still in a good position for a bunch of points.
Johnson is back in 13th after his early crash with Pedersen. From his onbaord we can see that Rodriguez comes back out in 12th and is about to have a look at Ellecker's inside.
Meanwhile Greidanus has to fight against Hinz. Both are yet to stop and MAC show a really good race here. Clean racing, good speed and they're profiting from all the trouble before them. Seems like their big boost works out here.
Aleksander comes back out in 6th but has a totally clean track. Looks like the TSS guys have learned from their mistake.
Meanwhile Maverick wants to use his chance. He's decreasing the gap to Greenhalgh.
And team mate Jalving fights with Johnson for some valuable points. Jalving has stopped twice though, while Johnson wasn't in yet for his second stop.
Hence why Jalving decides to take it slow and simply wait for Johnson to go in.
Or not? Johnson misses the breaking point and locks up.
Easy pass then for Jalving.
And while he watch Rodriguez who finally shows a good speed AND reliability today, Greenhalgh enters the pits.
Hence this brings Maverick the provisional lead.
And Greenhalgh once again comes out really close before Aleksander!
But the latter has the warmer tyres and more speed from the straight and catches Greenhalgh in the next curve! This is so exciting!
Maybe Maverick can be the lucky third in this game! With Greenhalgh and Aleksander fighting and holding up each other, where will he come out after his stop?
Warrington pits from 2nd. He doesn't have enough of a gap to come out before fighting Aleksander and Greenhalgh, but he should get back on track in a safe 4th.
But another drama for AMR! Greenhalgh is out in the gravel! Unseen by the camera but checked later, he simply overdid it in his try to come close to Aleksander and hit the gravel. Even more bad luck for him that he has to wait long before he can enter the track again. He's down to 14th! Gone is all the hope of the crowd to see an Aussie winner here.
Maverick knows that it's now or never to enter the grid. With Aleksander having a clear track now, he has to use this chance if he wants to fight for the win.
Team mate Jalving also misses the curve a bit. He only loses 3 positions though and can go on rather quickly.
Back to the top. Maverick has left his pits and is on his way out. Aleksander is hitting the straight. Oh...this will get soooo close!
Maverick comes out before Aleksander! But remember what Aleksander did with Greenhalgh earlier in this race.
And so it comes as it has to come. Aleksander has way more speed from the straight and attacks Maverick again for P1.
With the warmer tyres he makes an easy pass at the outside and retakes the lead!
But what's that? Maverick doesn't give up! He risks everything and brakes late into the inside. And he's through again!
Meanwhile Greenhalgh messes up even more. Unseen by the camera there must have been a touch between Greenhalgh and Cartwright, with Cartwright facing the wrong side of the track. Greenhalgh has more luck, he can continue rather quickly but loses another two places. Cartwright needs to wait way longer.
And yet another one in the barrier. This time it's Greidanus throwing away all hopes for points, at least. He can continue, hasn't even damaged his car, but comes back on track in 16th, right after Greenhalgh.
And look at that. The drama continues. Also Horvath loses his nerves and throws away a bunch of points. He was P4 before the spin. But he has still a bit of luck. He only loses one place...
...that is to Rodriguez who suddenly finds himself in 4th! Really a great performance from the young driver today.
At the top of the grid, Aleksander doesn't want to give up yet. He gets closer again to Maverick.
Elleker meanwhile misses the breaking point and allows Edwards to slip through.
Look at that. Aleksander comes back! He's got 5 more rounds for an attack. That'll be 5 very long rounds for Maverick.
Warrington is in a safe 3rd now while Johnson takes the fastest lap somewhere further down the field.
Elleker wants his position back. He takes the inside and is through already...
...but Edwards doesn't give up like he should! He continues to attack and they wheels touch. Edwards is lifted into the air!
Hitting the track hard when he comes back down, his nose breaks into pieces! He was on his way to points!
But look at his car now. He'll have to make another pit stop for a new nose cone and that's it with points.
And...it was all for nothing from Edwards. Cause not long after Elleker hits the gravel, too with high speed!
And...OH MY GOSH! The gravel lifts him into the air and into a big spin!
The top of his car hits the ground...
...another 360 degree spin...and another lading on the top...
...before the car eventually lands back on tyres. And now look at that! The car isn't even damaged! What did I say earlier about the GPGSL cars? It's so true! Elleker can even continue to drive!
Meanwhile Warrington attacks for the leading drivers. But with only 3 rounds to go, he won't make it anymore without a mistake of the front two.
Kittleson has a look at Jalving in 8th. But that's not a serious attack yet.
Oh come on. The fight at the front is over because Karjalainen, who is about to be lapped, really blocks Aleksander. He lost 1 1/2 seconds on Maverick already.
Who, in return, brings in a new fastest lap on his way fresher tyres. But honestly, Karjalainen might get trouble after the race as he clearly blocked Aleksander there. This really ends the fight for the victory.
Finally...over half a lap later, Karjalainen finally lets pass Aleksander who is now 2.7 seconds behind Maverick with only one lap to go.
And you see it when Maverick enters the last corner. Nothing to be seen from Aleksander anymore.
Oh no! Before we can congratulate Maverick, who just passed the finish line, there's shocking news for Minardi. In the last round Kittleson destroyed his car, unfortunately unseen by the camera. It's very likely though that Kittleson also became a victim of the Black Mamba curve.
And then it's official. John Maverick wins the Philip Island GP after a totally chaotic race with a lot of action and even the more trouble.
Aleksander brings home a safe second and valuable points both for his team and himself in the championship.
Pole sitter Warrington fills the last place on the podium. He had some trouble at the start but then showed a good and constant pace.
Surprise of the day is definitely Rodriguez in 4th! After he messed up some good positions in earlier races, he was well-focused today and showed an A-performance. Very well deserved 4th place.
Horvath rescues 5th after his spin. Could have ended way worse for him, so he can be satisfied with this result, I think.
Hunsley taking 6th shows that the boost of MAC wasn't wasted. It might not have worked out very well in the qualifying, but therefore even the more in the race. Congratulations to a bunch of points for MAC.
And it gets even better for team owner McGregor, as his second driver Hinz finished straight after his team mate in 7th. This might be the best team result for MAC ever, but I'm not sure about that though.
Winner's team mate Charrel Jalving follows in 8th. It was hard race for him with lots of action. Maybe, without the trip in the gravel a bit more would have been possible. Now it's 8th though.
Ben Johnson recovered well from the early accident with Pedersen and eventually takes 9th. But this will make good only a little, as without this over-optimistic move, a lot more would have been possible.
Silvestre also had a really quiet race. And this is good for him as it brings him 10th position and 3 points for him and his team.
Because all of the trouble in the last 3 rounds, Greenhalgh even manages to snatch 11th and two points. Seems this guy either knows all or nothing! Either points or a DNF. Points this time.
Same goes for Cartwright. After he faced the track wrong-sided after the incident with Greenhalgh, he takes the last point in 12th. At least not a complete disaster for SCR here.
That's the end of our today's coverage and this really interesting race. Congratulations go to John Maverick and MPR for the win of the Oceanic GP at Philip Island.
Official results are about to come.
Race Director: Ernie B. Ecclescake
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